1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to pumps and in particular to a removable cartridge-type pump for live well bait tanks used, for example, in sport fishing boats.
2. Description of Related Art
Sport fishing boats are commonly equipped with one or more holding tanks which are often referred to as live well tanks for live bait and which can be also used to keep fish which have been caught alive. Such tanks are customarily fitted with a pump so as to supply aerated fresh or salt water so as to continuously replace the water in the tank. The pump's intake is below the water line and its discharge is into the tank. The water level in the tank is controlled generally by a drain tube which discharges overboard. The aerated water is important so as to keep the bait fresh and active and is absolutely vital for tournament fishing contests wherein the catch is kept alive and reasonably healthy after which it is weighed and then released back into the body of water from which it was taken.
Pumps presently manufactured and marketed for this purpose have several shortcomings in that the impellers of the pumps frequently become clogged with debris causing them to lose capacity or seize up completely. When this happens, the pump must be unfastened from the hull and its plumbing connections, then disassembled and cleaned by the fisherman. Most generally this means removing the boat from the water or he also must make a plug of sorts to keep his boat from being flooded from the open intake port. A continuous lock motor condition can often cause a motor failure if the fusing or circuit breaker protection does not detect it and cutoff power. If the pump should fail for any mechanical or electrical reason, it must be replaced with a spare which is a time-consuming operation. Also, if the fishman should switch types of bait or go from bait to catch in the tank, he may require a larger capacity pump. Such second pump can either be installed in a parallel standby capacity or it may be used as a replacement for a smaller pump which first must be removed and the larger pump installed. Such procedures are highly undesirable for the normal fishmen and are intolerable to competition fishmen to whom every second is important.